A Bend In The Road
by dominiqueharmon
Summary: Finn had it all. Great wife, new baby but it was all taken away the day he lost his wife Quinn. Now he meets Rachel but they are brought together by a secret that can break them.
1. Prologue

A Bend In The Road  
>Chapter one-<p>

_I've kept this in for too long. I swear I'll have to burn these letters as soon as I'm done, it's too hard to think of. The only reason why I'm writing this is because I want to let it out because I have no one to turn too about this._

_Ok, here we go._

_Finn Hudson had it all. Perfect wife, perfect job, looks and a newly born little girl. But because of me, it was all ruined._

_Let me start from the beginning. Finn met his wife, Quinn Fabray, in sophomore year in high school. He had been the quarterback at McKinley High while Quinn was head cheerleader. Everyone claimed that they were a match made in heaven. Always giggling and smiling. They even became prom queen and king senior year at their small town school._

_They stayed together in college. Getting their scholarships forced them to different schools but that didn't keep them apart. In fact, they kept in contact quite often. While he was away at Auburn, she went to University of Florida. He was the head of the team there and she became a member on the dance team, the Dazzlers. Both got their teams to nationals and were decorated with medals and awards quite often._

_College ended and they both moved back to Lima where they took the next big step: marriage. They were married in an intimate ceremony with less than fifty guests. Finn could never forget how beautiful she looked walking down the aisle. Her blonde locks framed her face and her dress was fitted in all the right places. They were both twenty-five years old and happily in love. Gazing in each other's eyes and keeping their hands on each other at all available moments._

_They exchanged vows and rings before heading off to their honeymoon in Florida. A few months later, they were both ecstatic to find out that Quinn was pregnant with their first child who was born that fall named Charlotte Dianna Hudson. She looked like Quinn in every way, soft blonde hair, beautiful hazel eyes. She was perfect._

_They had everything that they could ask for. Until one afternoon that altered their lives forever:  
><em>  
><strong>Quinn Hudson, wife and mother of one killed tragically in hit-and-run at age twenty-eight<strong>.__

_That's what every newspaper and newscast said for weeks after the accident. They demanded for answers and the calls flooded into the police station for days. Nothing but false alarms and tips that barely helped at all. It happened on a road that was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. When they found her body they discovered that she had been dead for only a few hours, she would have been hit earlier that afternoon. The nearest house was farther down the road and it was an elderly couple that said they never heard a thing._

_But now it's five years later and still nothing. Now you might be wondering why I'm writing this. There is only one reason, I know who did it._


	2. New Beginnings & Old Heartaches

"Daddy!" Charlotte stomped her foot and balled her little hands into fists "Please don't make me go"

Charlotte grew up without a mother. Finn didn't know how to do braids or help her with dance classes or any little girly things like that. He wanted Quinn back in his life every minute of the day. Whenever she giggled he thought of her, the way she slept was like the way Quinn did. She had an interest in dance and cheer just like her.

"But sweetie you need to start the second grade"  
>"No" she shook her head<br>He bent down to her level "Yes you do. It'll be fun. Your teacher is probably great, all of your teachers have been. You do good in school and-"  
>"Daddy stop" she whined "I wanna stay home"<br>He picked her up and carried her to the car "Now listen," he set her in her car seat. "School starts tomorrow and it's kind of essential that you go"  
>"But I don't want to" she pouted<br>He sat in the driver's seat and pulled out of the driveway "I know you don't sweetie. Let's just focus on today alright? You and me get a nice breakfast. Maybe go to a movie?"  
>"Ok" she finally gave in.<br>He looked up at the rearview mirror to see her pulling at her red dress and he smiled.  
>"I love you sweetie"<br>"I love you too"

* * *

><p>Rachel Berry was running along the older part of Lima occasionally glancing in antique stores. With her earphones in, she made her usual jog down the street. Ever since she moved to Lima she took the same roads to complete her run.<p>

When she eventually got back to her apartment she threw herself on the couch and barely got the energy to pick up the TV remote. Attempting to keep her body the way it was was a challenge.

_That's the last time I run more than two feet_, she thought. And now she was going to start another school year. More complaining parents, more kids getting crayons stuck up her noses. She was sick of it but she knew in the end everyone would turn out ok. Well, at least she hoped that.

She got a class list the week before and found that she would have twenty-seven kids in her second grade class. Rachel had been a teacher for three years now. She enjoyed every second of it despite the few so called "bad apples"

After taking a nap, she sipped a glass of wine and crossed her fingers that tomorrow would turn out ok.

"I'm on the right track baby I was born this way" Rachel whispered the song while curling her hair. She chose a navy blue dress and white heels for her first day as a full time teacher. She subbed a little in college and was a part time substitute for one of the teachers last year while she was out on maternity leave before being offered her full time job. She was so excited but at this point she was just worried.

Twenty-seven little faces that she'd be responsible for the next 180 school days.

* * *

><p>She got to school a little before seven to make sure the class was in order. She heard a soft knock on the door to which she responded "Come in" while straightening her dress.<p>

"Oh good you're here!" a redhead opened the door and took a few steps towards Rachel "My name is Emma. Emma Schuester"  
>"I subbed for you right?" she shook her hand<br>"Yes. It's so nice to finally meet you"  
>"Nice to meet you too" she smiled.<br>"Congratulations on your job. The class looks great"  
>"Thank you. Would you like to take a seat?"<br>"No thank you" she shook her head and Rachel watched as the loose red curls bounced from side to side "I have to go soon. Just though I'd stop by" she looked around the room "It's your first year teaching here?"  
>"Yeah" Rachel placed name cards on each desk "I moved here from New York. I taught up there for a few years"<br>"New York? Wow. What brought you to Lima?"  
>"I thought it would be a nice change of pace. My family is close by and once I got the job I knew I should stay"<br>"That's great. Congrats again, sorry to leave suddenly but I need to get my class ready too" she made her way towards the door "See you around"  
>"Bye" Rachel waved<p>

* * *

><p>"Hello" Rachel smiled as everyone walked in. "Hi, I'm Miss Berry"<p>

She repeated those words to everyone until they were all in and she started the class by taking roll.

She noticed that a few parents stayed behind to watch through the windows as their children started school. Halfway through calling roll, most were gone.

"Charlotte Hudson?" Rachel called over whispers.

She had heard about Charlotte the previous day at a staff meeting. One of her teachers said that she loved having her but wondered how she would do because of what happened. Then she found out about Quinn and how young Charlotte was when it all happened. She felt bad for her. She also heard that her father, Finn, was a cop for the small Ohio town. Assistant chief actually.

Rachel learned that Charlotte was an only child and that Finn was a single father that took the accident hard. Who wouldn't? She couldn't even begin to imagine how hard everything must have been.

Rachel was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Charlotte respond. She checked off her name "Jill Maxwell?" she continued.

"How was school sweetie?" Finn said as his daughter ran into his arms.

"It was good" she responded "Is it ok if I go with Stephanie to the playground?"

"Go ahead" he put her down and he watched as she ran towards her friend.

"You must be Charlotte's father"

Finn turned at a voice from behind him

"I'm her teacher, Miss Berry"

"Hi" he smiled. Rachel was a lot shorter than he was and he felt a bit awkward "How did she do today?"

"She did great. She's very nice"

"Thank you"

"Daddy!" Charlotte called

"I better let you go. It was nice to meet you"

"You too"

Finn watched as Rachel turned to go back to her classroom. He had heard a little about her. She was new in town and this was her first year as a full time teacher. As the assistant chief, Finn had to keep up with everyone which wasn't hard considering how small of a town Lima was. Everyone was either an old retired couple or younger couples settling down. That's what made some things difficult for Finn.

Yes he felt guilty about loving someone other than Quinn but he wondered when would be the right time to move on. Charlotte needed a mother and Finn wanted someone to wake up next to again. He missed Quinn. The way her hair was spread across the pillow in the morning, the perfume that she always wore and how it lingered when she left the room, each gentle kiss goodnight.

Now it's just him and Charlotte making it on their own without her. He didn't like thinking that she was gone. He still bought her perfume from time to time just to remember what it smelled like, he would look up at the stars and remember some of the names because Quinn had told him, he would lie in bed and stare at those same stars wishing every night that she would somehow come back.

But the fact is, she can't. She just can't. He still wondered who did this all to him. All he knew is that when he found the person he would do anything to make his life a living hell.

"Daddy!"

"Coming sweetie"

* * *

><p>Finn and Charlotte sat at the kitchen table eating cereal. Finn saw a note in her backpack the day before regarding how her grades had been getting lower and since Miss Berry was concerned, she wanted to talk to them after school that day. Charlotte hadn't said a thing about it at all and Finn wondered whether she was scared because she usually did well or if it was because she was scared of what he might say.<p>

"Sweetie"

"Yeah daddy" she picked up her spoon

"I saw a note in your backpack when I went through it last night"

"A note?" she had acted as if she had never heard of it in her life but he could tell that she was just getting nervous.

"Your teacher wants to meet with us after school today"

"Oh"

"Don't be nervous. Do you know what it's about?"

She shook her head

"Well then we'll just have to find out then" he stood from the table and took their dishes to the sink. "Go get your stuff and wait by the door. I'll be there in a minute"  
>She ran off to the other room and Finn took the note from his pocket.<p>

_Mr. Hudson,_

_I feel like Charlotte is slipping a little with her grades. If you could can you come to meet with me sometime next week? If we take care of this now she will do fine soon. I also have a few other things to discuss. Please call me when you can._

_Rachel Berry_

Finn was just as nervous as Charlotte was. He saw her from the kitchen; she was looking down probably thinking that she should have told him about the note earlier. How long could she have been "slipping a little with her grades"? None of her previous teachers ever said anything other than she was a good girl who always tried her best. Maybe he should have caught on earlier.

* * *

><p>"Hello?" Finn walked in Charlotte's class to see Mrs. Berry standing in the corner of the room by her desk with a folded piece of paper in her hand to fan herself with.<p>

"Over here" she stood "Do you mind if we go outside? It's so hot in here"

"No, it's fine"

He waited for her as she grabbed a small portfolio and made her way out the door with him. He found himself admiring her small frame as they walked to a nearby table which still had some crumbs from the afternoon snack.

"Crazy weather huh?" she wiped the table off

"Yeah" he sat across from her "So what's happening with Charlotte? She's always seemed to be doing ok"  
>"Well, I was looking at her portfolio and saw what her teachers have wrote about her and how she seemed to be doing" she opened the folder and pointed to various notes as she talked "I think her teachers might have just.. passed her just to pass her. I know what happened with you and your wife and-"<p>

"You think they did it out of sympathy?"

She nodded "Charlotte is a smart girl but I think they just passed her so she wouldn't feel bad because her grades weren't the best. I hope I'm not going too far or accusing you two of anything"  
>"No, I understand completely. You're right. Would there be anything that we could do now?"<p>

"Well, um-" _this is going better than I thought it would.. _"I could always tutor her. I'm not sure what your schedule is but we can do what we can. If you want she could stay after school for about an hour two or three times a week. I would hate having to keep her in that class though. We barely survived today because the air went out"

"I could get you guys a fan"

"Really?"

"Yeah. We might have a few extras at the station, I could spare one"

"Thank you!" her face lit up as she smiled "Well that takes care of that"

"I'll try and bring it down tomorrow"

"I can't thank you enough"

"Don't worry about it"

They stood and made their way to Finn's car.

"It was nice to meet you Mr. Hudson" she put out her hand for him to shake it

"You can call me Finn"

"Alright" she smiled. "I'll see you around"

* * *

><p><strong>-Hello everyone! I know the last chapter was really short but I'm basing everything off of the book. I just read it a month or two ago and I'm already forgetting most of what happened. Obviously, this is my very first Finchel fic (I started really being obsessed when the NY pictures came out). I'm used to writing about other couples so that's why this is going to be a lot crappier than my usual stories are . If you want to read those good ahead but you guys probably don't know who you are (Erin and Maks from season ten of <em>Dancing With the Stars<em>. Yeah I know, seems stupid) I have a very strong obsession for them which should have stopped a long time ago. You'll probably die of boredom not knowing who they are. I personally think the _True Believer_ ones are better. I'm off topic now, my point is I don't write all that well. My ideas are usually better then what they turn out to be but I take criticism! I know that I write shorter chapters/stories than other people do and that I use a _lot_ of dialogue. I get it. So yeah, I'll stop rambling. Hope you enjoyed! More to come soon :)**

**Dominique**

* * *

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